"If I were to hide," She said, "Could you find me in the dark?"

She turned because he hadn't answered.

He just smiled and studied her flushed face. "I'll give you a ten-second lead," he said.

"Only ten seconds?"

"One. . .two. . .three. . ."

"Ryo, wait!"

"Four. . .five. . .six. . ."

      "Ryo!" With a tiny utterance, she spun around and ran for the darkness of the hallway. Ran hard.

      It was a wild flight to freedom. Grasping handfuls of her skirt, She dashed from one blind alley to another, through archways, and finally up a short flight of stairs through a floor, dominated by huge carved doors. Gasping for a breath, fear gripped her, She heaved the doors open and entered the room even larger then the one she had left.

      Her heartbeats had blurred into one sound, a soft roar.

      A ballroom, she realized, turning dizzily to take it all in. The ceiling glittered with a sphere that at one time must have rotated and sprinkled the room with diamonds of light. The wall opposite of her was mostly mirrors and there was no furniture beyond dust skirted tables that ran the length of both walls and several towering stacks of chairs that dotted the hardwood floor.

      Quickly Himiko slipped behind one of the stacks. She had no idea what Ryo might do, and that was what frightened her. She could not imagine that he would play fair, based on what she knew about him. What she didn't know concerned her more.

      As far as she could see, there wasn't a way out other then the way she came in, and she'd forgotten to close the doors. The thought of being trapped in the room brought a wave of panic. But this was not a search-and-destroy mission, she reminded herself. He was not the enemy.

     Her beaded bad felt like a security blanket, except that it was icy cold. Shivering, she clutched it against her and waited. The building was oddly laid out, and it might take him some time to find out this place at night. She wasn't sure she could have found it in daylight.

     What brought her head up was a faint tapping sound.

     The measured beats continued as she listened, a sound compelling as footsteps. Himiko found herself anticipating them, counting then over the wild ticking of her senses.

      A form appeared in the archway. She ducked back as it unfurled like a dark apparition, snuffling out the meager light. It would have been terrifying Sight if she hadn't recognized the full wing cut of his coat and the black hair.

     His movements were filled with sinister grace and his instincts were infallible. Blindfolded, he could have found her, almost as quickly, she was sure. And weather he admitted it or not, some of the ability must have come from his bloodlines.

     Fleetingly she wondered what went through a man's mind when he pursued a woman. If he concentrated on the moment of capture. Or if he fantasized what he could do once he had her in his arms. It didn't seem possible that a man could chase a women and not imagine the wild rush of her blood. That he could bear down on her without inhaling the sweet frenzy of her flushed and trembling.

     Was he imagining her cries when he caught her?
     Would his heart beat wildly as hers was beating now?

    The tapping had stopped, she realized. Even over the pounding of her ears, something caught her attention and forced her to listen. Silence. The room had gone silent.

    She drew back, straining to pick up anything that might tell her where he was. The waiting felt more ominous with every second that passed. He was somewhere near, she could stand it no longer. She edged forward to look. And heard the floor creak behind her.

     It was the only warning she got.
     There wasn't time for anything, not even to turn.

     A hand slid over her mouth, smothering the wild gasp in her throat. Her head dropped back as she was drawn against him. Her body arched like a bow, but she didn't fight. She couldn't.

     It was the way he touched her.

     He seemed to know where the wildness was thrumming inside her. Her throat exposed, and his hand dropped to its taut curve, covering the frantic ticks. It whispered down her body like the wind, his hand. It touched the places where she thrbbed, startling her senses as it lulled them. She didn't know whether to moan or scream. It felt as if she were being violated and caressed at the same time.

     "You can't hide from me."

     The sound of his voice startled her, too. It was everywhere. It couldn't have come from him. It filled the room like an echo.

      She tried to get a look at him. "Ryo. . ." She thought. But he wouldn't let her. He held her hostage while the wind had its way with her, whispering up and down her thighs.

      She nearly staggered when his hands fell away.

      For some reasons he'd released her, and her first thought was to run. But she couldn't make her legs work. She stumbled into the open room and stopped. A gasp broke from her as she looked up. That couldn't have been him behind her. He was still in the doorway, huge and forbidding. His dark head nearly brushed the top of the archway.

      "B-but you were behind me! you touched me!"

      His coat lifted like wings as he walked towards her."There are two ways to make someone behave. . . Just two. Do you know what they are Himiko-chan?."

       "Love. . ."
       ". . . And fear"

      Himiko wanted to scream. This couldn't be happaning. She was seeing things, night-blind. But he'd reached her before anything could come of her confusion, and swiftness silenced her.

     "Touched you like this?" he asked in a husky tone.

      She didn't know what he meant untill he felt his hands caressing her face. His fingers danced beneath her chin and lifted it. "Was this how he touched you Himiko? was this how it felt"

       God it felt wonderful, his caress. Her head lolled back and her throat arched as he stroked her there. She closed her eyes and gave an involuntary sound, a sigh.

      "Was it?" he asked again in a mocking tone.

      The question had barely registered before he spun her around.

      "Or like this?"

       Now he was behind her, holding her around the waist, holding her tight to his body. She could the raise and fall of his chest and the muscles of his thighs. She could feel the rest of him., too. Dark. Virile. Unyielding.

       "Yes." She whispered. "Like that"

        His hand curved itself to the front of her throat for a moment. holding her that wat, savoring the bow string tension, And then it clamped over her mouth.

        Her spine arched. It trembled exquisitely. She felt as if she was going to break with pleasure.

       "Don't say a word." He whispered. The georgette dress dropped off her shoulders with very little help from him. It slid to the cool floor, coll silk around her ankles. She wore nothing except a slip and panties, which fell next.

       She shook her head frantically, muzzled by his hand. Her legs went weak as he locked his forearm to her belly, supporting her as he bent her forward.

       "There are two ways to make people behave-"

        Something shuddered inside him and went taut. She could hear it in his voice, feel it in the hands that held her.

       "Love and fear" He breathed out softly, savagely.
       "Your about to know which it is"

       Himiko's heart burst like a tiny star. She tried to scream. She tried to struggle, but she didn't have enough strength. The fear he mentioned was rocketing through her, but at the same time her body was soaring with anticipation. She didn't understand the wild rush of it, the flooding weakness. Was this love? Whatever it was, it burned so brightly she was blinded by it.

      The last thing she saw as she tumbled forward, her body draped wantonly over the bracing strength of his arm, was her beaded bag on the floor, its contents spilled out. The last thing she felt was Ryo touching her, stroking her, whispering her name like a prayer.


                       \"There are two ways to make someone behave"
                                                   
                                             \"Love and Fear"